Stories From A Life Gone Crazy: time for a different perspective

There are moments in mothering/parenting when you just need something back, something that lets you know that those bundles of joy you brought into the world aren't just big leeches. The first time most parents experience this is right before the first smile, not the gas smile, it happens just when you are so tired that you are about to collapse in a heap on the floor and never get up. It is so simple, a smile from your new baby, but somehow that gives you enough energy and momentum to make through the late nights and fussy days.

Here my 6-year-old is forever butting heads with me over everything. I have run out of charts, bribes, positive reinforcement, reasoning, asking him to set a good example, and just about any other decent parenting technique there is. I scream and yell a lot. Not pleasant for anyone involved and once you start it is pretty easy to keep yelling about all sorts of stuff, even stuff you don't normally scream about. Obviously this isn't working either.

My 3-year-old is actually pretty good, most of the time, 3-year-olds are like that. He does have moments when he gets mad at his brothers and he head butts them, bites them, sits on the 1-year-old's head, punches them, pushes them, kicks them, traps the 1-year-old in the bathroom, and just your garden variety methods of the middle child saying, " I will get mine." Also, he does not like being told to get off the iPad-not at all.

The 1-year-old makes my insides cringe when he says, 'uh-oh', and he says it about 100 times a day. This is because while in the car he threw his stuffed Tiny Dog onto the floor, he took off his shoe and can't get it back on, he dropped food on the floor, or just about anything in the whole world. When not saying uh-oh he is usually crying his head off (snotty, big huge tears, crying) all the live long day. He cries because someone closed a door, he cries because he wants to be held, he cries because he wants cheese(his word for all food), he cries because you gave him milk but he really wanted juice, and he cries because he wants a toy that his brother has and even when the brother swaps him he still cries.

It gets to the point when someone spills a glass of milk and instead of saying - get the towels and let's just clean it up, you say, " Again, really again, you spilled your drink again oh my goodness. Why are you always spilling everything? Why aren't you cleaning it up?

I decided it was time for mommy to 1. drink more alcohol during the day ;) 2. start relaxing because the kids can tell when I am tense and it makes them tense and then you have chaos, maybe we will have it anyway because I have three boys, but perhaps it will be fun chaos. 3. get out of our environment because a tiny townhouse with no yard is not fun for little boys or their mama.

I have also decided to post some pictures of moments or looks that have filled my heart so full of love I thought it might just explode. After all when you are looking for the bad you see the bad and when you are looking for the good it is everywhere.